Coverage of the Frisco RoughRiders from Dr Pepper Ballpark

Castillo, Hankins Re-Sign with Rangers

It was just a couple of days ago when I wrote about how the Rangers did not tender the contract of RoughRiders’ bullpen arm Fabio Castillo. Well, the Rangers announced today at 3:05 p.m. that the club has re-signed the right-hander, along with catcher Chris Robinson, to a minor league contract with an invitation to major league spring training.

Robinson, 27, batted .316 with 15 doubles, one home run, and 29 RBIs in 66 games with the Triple-A Iowa Cubs in 2011. The London, Ontario native was originally selected by Detroit in the third round of the 2005 draft out of the University of Illinois and played for Team Canada in the 2006 World Baseball Classic and the 2009 World Cup.

In other news potentially affecting the RoughRiders, the Rangers have also re-signed tall righty Derek Hankins to a minor league contract. The 28-year-old pitched in five games for the ‘Riders in 2011 and might be one of the most pleasant minor leaguers I’ve ever been around. Derek is a huge Chicago Bears fan and was a key contributor to the Insider Blog during our first annual fantasy football special (he nailed it when tabbing Jordy Nelson as his top sleeper for 2011).

Hank is such a crazy Bears fan that he bought the jerseys of Roy Williams and Marion Barber before the start of the season.

I wonder if he was wearing Barber’s jersey when he fumbled against the Broncos last Sunday? Too soon.

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